“It is nobody,” Bai Xinjian said with a smile. “Claude, have you seen the driver? It is about time I set off.”
Claude continued to stare at Bai Xinjian. “The driver asked for leave to go home. Su Qin asked me to drive you.”
Bai Xinjian was stunned.
For such an important occasion, letting an ugly gardener act as a driver seemed somewhat inappropriate. However, Bai Xinjian had never been one for superficial discrimination.
“Fine,” he said, adjusting his suit and shirt cuffs. He glanced at the gardener and noted that although he was wearing a cheap-looking suit, it was surprisingly tidy. “Let us go.”
“Oh, right,” he added while walking. “Find a high-end shopping mall on the way; I need to buy a gift.”
With Bai Xinjian’s acting skills, handling daily social interactions was never a problem.
Throughout the journey, he engaged in a pleasant conversation with the strange, ugly gardener. Through their dialogue, he learned that Claude had lost both of his parents. This job was introduced to him by a relative in the military, back when Bai Yu had just become the new owner of the mansion and was in need of a gardener.
The salary he offered Claude was quite high, but it was Shen Yuhuai’s money anyway, so he did not care.
At first, the gardener thought Bai Yu would mind his appearance. In reality, however, Bai Yu did not care what the gardener looked like; he only needed to see fresh flowers in the garden every day. He also did not care what kinds of flowers were in the garden. Although he had graduated from a flower arrangement class, he had never studied the varieties and styles of flowers in much detail.
“Do you like this job?” Bai Xinjian asked Claude casually.
He had no hidden motives; he was simply following Bai Yu’s persona to build rapport with Claude. Tonight’s banquet was effectively a trap for the original host. He knew he would not be able to leave the Jiang family estate happily, and in case he needed Claude’s help later, this was necessary.
“I did not like it before, but I like it very much now,” Claude replied.
After speaking, he gave Bai Xinjian a deep look with his dark blue right eye.
The two passed a shopping mall, and Bai Xinjian went in to pick out a gift. Passing by a menswear store, Bai Xinjian paused and led Claude inside.
Knowing his image was poor, Claude had put on a pair of sunglasses before getting out of the car. He had intended to wait in the vehicle, but Bai Xinjian did not mind and told him to follow.
The world was in chaos, so the shopping mall was empty. Since it was not yet closing time, there were only two attendants in the menswear store. As soon as Bai Xinjian entered, an attendant greeted him enthusiastically.
The attendant first spoke warmly to Bai Xinjian, then glanced hesitantly at Claude behind him. There was no helping it; Claude’s appearance was truly frightening. Even with sunglasses, the ugly and ferocious scar on his face could not be hidden.
“Sir, are you looking to buy something?” the attendant mustered the courage to ask Claude. The implication was clear: if you are not buying, you are not welcome.
“Why,” Bai Xinjian said in a flat tone, “does your store discriminate against customers?”
“Not at all, not at all,” the attendant, who recognized Bai Xinjian as a regular, quickly replied. “Mr. Bai, you are joking. Please, come inside.”
After sitting down, Bai Xinjian did not mince words. He gestured with his chin toward Claude, who was standing to the side, and said to the attendant, “Pick out a suitable suit for this gentleman.”
Claude looked at Bai Xinjian with a surprised expression.
Bai Xinjian picked up the lemonade provided by the attendant, took a sip through a straw, and fell silent.
Since the customer had spoken, the attendant followed orders. He selected a few outfits that fit Claude’s frame and brought them over.
“This…” Claude’s ugly face rarely showed a hint of awkwardness. “I… anything is fine.”
“How can it be just anything?” Bai Xinjian, worried that dragging it out would cause delays, stood up from the sofa.
He walked over to Claude, lifted the clothes selected by the attendant to compare them against him, and finally chose one set. “This one. Try it on.”
Claude had no choice but to take the clothes into the fitting room. A moment later, he emerged wearing the new suit, though he was still wearing his sunglasses.
“We will take it,” Bai Xinjian said, stepping over to adjust Claude’s collar. “You look quite dapper.”
He then reached out to brush off some non-existent dust from Claude’s shoulder. “Charge it, please.”
He addressed the attendant. The attendant took his credit card, and the payment was processed quickly. Carrying his old suit and wearing the new one with the tags removed, Claude followed Bai Xinjian out of the store.
He said I am handsome and dapper!
Claude felt somewhat elated.
I like it. I like it so much.
Does he really like me?
The car pulled into the Jiang family villa in the evening.
As night fell, the villa was brilliantly lit. Bai Xinjian handed over the invitation and walked into the villa with Claude. Since the servants and drivers had their own designated areas, Bai Xinjian parted ways with Claude at the entrance.
Walking into the banquet hall, several guests greeted Bai Xinjian, and he responded to each one. Based on the original host’s personality, he assumed the host would have felt very uncomfortable in such a setting. However, Bai Xinjian was not the original host; he never felt uncomfortable wherever he went.
Taking a glass of champagne from a server, Bai Xinjian stood in a corner of the hall.
This will do, he thought. It was a good opportunity to observe the world and collect material.
The banquet hall was magnificent. Dressed in exquisite attire, men and women moved among each other, appearing to be waiting for something. A short while later, a handsome young man helped an old man into the hall from the other side.
“Jianjian,” 0048 reminded Bai Xinjian, “that is Jiang Sui. The person he is supporting is his grandfather.”
The Jiang family was a military and political household. Jiang Sui’s grandfather had held a high rank in the military, but he had long since retired. Now, he was focusing all his efforts on supporting Jiang Sui and expanding his network.
“The two men standing next to Jiang Sui and the old man, the ones looking at him, are his followers from the text.”
At this mention, Bai Xinjian thought of his neighbor. “Where is Gu Yue?” he asked 0048.
“I do not know. Theoretically, he should be here by now. He would not be late for such an important occasion.”
Just as he said this, the villa doors opened, and a tall man in a crisp, full military uniform, wearing a hat and gloves, walked in.
He arrived from the opposite end of the hall from Jiang Sui and his grandfather. As their gazes passed through the guests, they locked eyes.
The old Mr. Jiang froze. The guests began to whisper.
The man who had arrived was none other than Shen Yuhuai.
Bai Xinjian naturally had an impression of Shen Yuhuai’s appearance; a wedding photo of the original host and him hung in the bedroom downstairs. However, when that photo was taken, both of them seemed reluctant, making Shen Yuhuai’s face appear slightly distorted. Now, taking a closer look, Shen Yuhuai was actually quite handsome.
Hearing Bai Xinjian’s inner thoughts, 0048 replied, “Of course. The villains in horror stories are always better-looking than the heroes; otherwise, why would it be a horror story?”
“Since when do horror stories have that rule?” While Bai Xinjian was bantering with 0048, the guests were already in a heated discussion.
“Is General Shen not sick?”
“Is he not at the front lines?”
“He returned a while ago. I heard he was infected by pollutants and locked in a high-security ward. How could he be here?”
“Is your information accurate? Perhaps he just finished his duties at the front and happened to return?”
As the crowd discussed, their gazes shifted toward Bai Xinjian, who was standing in the corner. High society news was indeed faster; since Shen Yuhuai had arrived, everyone’s attention inevitably fell on Bai Xinjian.
“So he really came, too.”
Everyone acted as if they had just noticed Bai Xinjian and began discussing him again.
“Is he always jealous of young Master Jiang?”
“That is certain. The status of the Bai and Jiang families in the capital is similar, but Jiang Sui is the apple of the Jiang family’s eye, while Bai Yu is not. I heard that a while ago, Bai Lan and Jiang Su just returned from a seaside vacation with their eldest son and that adopted son.”
“How is Bai Yu doing poorly? He married a general from the Alliance’s Falcon Combat Zone!”
0048 sighed, “It is a mess again. In the original plot, the villain Shen Yuhuai did not appear. Bai Yu heard rumors at the birthday banquet that Shen Yuhuai had been infected by pollutants and locked in a classified ward. Coupled with the gossip about him at the banquet, Bai Yu felt humiliated and took the initiative to trouble Jiang Sui. As a result, no one helped him at the banquet; instead, he was rebuked by the late-arriving Bai couple and his two brothers. Feeling hopeless, Bai Yu chose to cheat with Gu Yue to find another pillar of support.”
Bai Xinjian had read these plot points several times; he knew them by heart. Pitiful people always had their detestable sides. After realizing he was a mere tool, Bai Yu chose to attach himself to others as a vase; such an outcome was not exactly pitiable.
A worker only cares about the next step.
“Why do you not just go and seduce Gu Yue as usual?”
0048 listed several possible paths using its data algorithms, “The butterfly effect is inevitable, but it is an established fact that Shen Yuhuai is a monster. Let us ignore the messy prerequisites and go straight for the ending.”
“That works,” Bai Xinjian looked around. “But where is Gu Yue? I might as well just pounce on him as soon as he arrives!” He began to get eager.
The host is talented in every way, but his personality is far too reckless.
0048 raised its electronic hand to stop him, but before it could remind Bai Xinjian not to break character, it saw Shen Yuhuai walking toward his host with long strides.
There were so many people at the banquet, yet Shen Yuhuai did not even greet the Jiang grandfather and grandson; his eyes seemed fixed solely on Bai Xinjian. He walked with such momentum that his cape fluttered behind him. Finally, he stood still in front of Bai Xinjian.
“I am here. I have returned.” Shen Yuhuai changed his phrasing, his eyes locked onto Bai Xinjian as a faint smile appeared on his handsome, sharp-featured face.
Bai Xinjian remarked internally, “He really is the villain; he is handsome.”
0048 replied, “Naturally.”
Immediately after, Bai Xinjian saw Shen Yuhuai’s eyes twitch slightly, perhaps from excitement, and then the color of his right iris gradually changed from deep black to deep blue.
Bai Xinjian, “What does this mean? Is it the fashion in your horror story world to have a bulk sale on right-eye pupil colors?”